Kearns: "We will prosecute any further acts of misconduct we identify"

FLEMINGTON - Four male corrections officers at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility have been indicted on 26 charges of official misconduct and sexual abuse of eight women inmates.

A fifth staffer, an instructor at the Union Township facility, has already pleaded guilty to official misconduct for having a sexual encounter with an inmate and has been sentenced to three years in state prison.

Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III emphasized that the investigation into sexual abuse at the women's prison is ongoing.

"There is an expectation that public officials will faithfully perform their duties and will not turn a blind eye to any illegal activity," the prosecutor said. "This is an ongoing investigation and we will prosecute any further acts of misconduct we identify.

Jason Mays(Photo: ~Courtesy of Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office)

"All inmates have a right to be safe within the institutions where we as a society demand they be detained," Kearns continued at a Monday morning press conference to announce the indictments which were returned on Thursday. "All inmates should be free of sexual abuse regardless of their crime."

The prosecutor declined to give details of the investigation.

"In these cases, the victims were particularly vulnerable," the prosecutor said. "The corrections officer had complete power over every aspect of their lives behind bars."

Lanigan said the vast majority of corrections staffers are "hard-working, fair-minded and law-abiding."

"However, a small number of employees can undermine the entire integrity of the criminal justice system," Lanigan said.

All of the corrections officers have been suspended from their jobs and are free on bail.

Jason Mays, 43, of Hillside, a senior corrections officer sine May 2005, was indicted on five counts of official misconduct, one count of a pattern of official misconduct and three counts of sexual assault, all second-degree crimes with possible prison sentences of five to 10 .years. Mays was also indicted on two counts of criminal coercion and four counts of criminal sexual contact.

Ahnwar Dixon, 38, of East Orange, a senior corrections officer since November 2004, was indicted on two counts of official misconduct, one count of a pattern of official misconduct, one count of sexual assault and three counts of criminal sexual contact.

Brian Ambroise, 33, of Union (Union County), a senior corrections officer since March 2013, was indicted on one count each of official misconduct and sexual assault.

Thomas Seguine, 34, of Phillipsburg, a senior corrections officer since December 2008, was also indicted on one count each of official misconduct and sexual assault.

Joel Herscap, 55, of Alpha, an instructional trade instructor from September 2003 to his arrest in May 2016, pleaded guilty to official misconduct on Oct. 31, 2016 and was sentenced to three years in prison by Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski.

All five were charged following a joint investigation by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office and the Department of Corrections Special Investigations Division.

Most of the incidents occurred in 2015 and 2016, Kearns said.

Ambroise was charged in October 2016 and Seguine was arrested in February 2016.

Herscap was arrested in May 2016 after corrections officers discovered an inmate who was in possession of tobacco, Kearns said. The inmate told investigators that she received it from Herscap in exchange for sexual favors, according to the prosecutor.